Do Americans Really Care About GM and Cloned Foods?

Not so long ago, I was led to believe experts and consumers were more concerned about blight of genetically modified (GM) crops in their grocery stores. Apparently, the jury's still out on most GM crops and biotech foods, according to the fifth annual report issued by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology.

Two sets of alarming numbers bear this out. For one, Americans are almost equally divided on the health risks associated with GM foods in general with 29 percent regarding them as unsafe and 34 percent believing otherwise. Moreover, awareness of GM foods in general has declined over the past five years from a high of 45 percent in 2001 to 40 percent this year, so it's not surprising to learn 60 percent of Americans have fooled themselves into believing they haven't eaten any biotech foods.

One silver lining: Americans who believe themselves either to be informed or not remain very wary of cloned animals, meaning the FDA ought to put the brakes on approving the sale of milk and meat from such sources.

By the way, these so-called "experts" can't promise with any degree of certainty what effect these Frankenstein-like foods will have on your health for the long term, so why take the risk? Learn how to separate GM foods and cloned meats from the real thing by following these simple tips.